278 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



refreshing. With good government and laws, and 

 one's friends around, I never saw a more beautiful spot 

 on which man could desire to pass his allotted time on 

 earth. 



Resuming our ride, we came out upon a rich plain 

 covered with grass, on which cattle and horses were 

 pasturing, between the bases of the two great volca- 

 noes ; and on the left, at a distance, on the side of the 

 Volcano de Agua, saw the Church of Ciudad Vieja, 

 the first capital of Guatimala, founded by Alvarado the 

 Conqueror. I was now on classic ground. The fame 

 of Cortez and his exploits in Mexico spread among the 

 Indian tribes to the south, and the Kachiquel kings 

 sent an embassy offering to acknowledge themselves 

 vassals of Spain. Cortez received the ambassadors 

 with distinction, and sent Pedro de Alvarado, an offi- 

 cer distinguished in the conquest of New Spain, to re- 

 ceive the submission of the native kings, and take pos- 

 session of Guatimala. On the thirteenth of Novem- 

 ber, 1523, Alvarado left the city of Mexico with three 

 hundred Spaniards, and a large body of Tlascaltecas, 

 Cholotecas, Chinapas, and other auxiliary Mexican In- 

 dians, fought his way through the populous provinces 

 of Soconusco and Tonala, and on the fourteenth of 

 May, by a decisive victory over the Quiche Indians, he 

 arrived at the capital of the Kachiquel kingdom, now 

 known as the village of Tecpan Guatimala. After re- 

 maining a few days to recover from their fatigues, the 

 conquering army continued their route by the villages 

 on the coast, overcoming all that disputed their prog- 

 ress ; and on the 24th of July, 1524, arrived at a place 

 called by the Indians Almolonga, meaning, in their 

 language, a spring of water (or the mountain from 

 which water flows), situated at the base of the Volcano 



